With several hundred faithful in attendance, the Feast Day of the founder of Visoki Dečani Monastery, Holy King Stefan of Dečani, was celebrated this year.
The Hierarchical Divine Liturgy was served by His Eminence Metropolitan Chrysostom of Sarajevo together with His Grace Bishop Teodosije of Raška-Prizren. Many priests and hieromonks from throughout the Diocese of Raška-Prizren and from the Metropolitanate of Montenegro served as well, while the festal Liturgy was greatly beautified by the chanting of the students from the Seminary in Prizren.
At this year’s celebration of the Monastery’s Feast Day, a large number of pilgrims were in attendance at the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy along with numerous representatives of international offices in Kosovo and Metohija and representatives from KFOR.
Bishop Teodosije of Kosovo and Metohija thanked God that so many pilgrims and people of good will came to celebrate this year’s feast of Saint Stefan, “We are thankful to all who selflessly help our holy places, our people, and all those who need help, such as the Diocesan soup kitchen, the Seminary in Prizren, and all those who have remained in Kosovo and Metohija and by whose presence, it remains a Serbian land and God’s name is glorified. May Holy King Stefan support us on our journey and in this ascetic labor.”
Metropolitan Chrysostom of Sarajevo said that Kosovo and Metohija are in the souls of every Serbian person, “as the very being of our own being, the life of our lives, the heart of our own heart, and this is why no one can take it away from us.”
The Abbot of Visoki Dečani Monastery, Archimandrite Sava, together with the Monastery brethren, prepared a festal agape meal for all those present and expressed his gratitude that everyone had come to celebrate the Monastery’s patronal feast together, “May the Lord, through the prayers of the Holy King and of all the Saints, grant that next year we will celebrate this feast in peace and in joy, and that our people, our monasteries, and our holy sites will remain and continue to exist, that they will be places in which we will be directed towards eternal life, and that we will preserve our identity and maintain that which our ancestors handed down to us,” Father Sava said.
The celebration of the Feast of Saint Stefan had begun the night before, on the evening of November 23rd, with a festal vigil being served by Metropolitan Chrysostom and Bishop Teodosije together with the participation of visiting priests, monks and nuns, and lay people.
Around 1,000 people from central Serbia, Kosovo and Metohija, Montenegro, Republika Srpska, and other countries participated in the celebrations in Visoki Dečani this year. This year’s feast day took place peacefully and without incident, and the Monastery was protected by KFOR.
Taken from http://www.eparhija-prizren.com
